Mr. Brooks

Mr. Brooks is 'œmonumentally terrible but far too bizarre to be boring,' said Scott Foundas in the LA Weekly. Kevin Costner is a Portland, Ore., family man who does his best to suppress an addiction to murder. Accompanied by an imaginary alter ego, Marshall (William Hurt), Earl Brooks struggles with urges to kill. This premise actually isn't bad'”it's an interesting twist on the way we tend to blame addiction for our biggest character flaws'”but the script falls apart once director/screenwriter Bruce A. Evans starts piling on subplots. Lame convolutions start pretty early on, said Lou Lumenick in the New York Post. Comedian Dane Cook proves unbearable as a voyeur who catches Brooks in the act of murder, but doesn't turn him in because he wants to tag along on crime runs. By the time Brooks' daughter (Danielle Panabaker) starts exhibiting murderous tendencies, viewers will be rolling their eyes. The movie 'œends up, at best, as a guilty pleasure where I had a hard time sorting out the intentional from the unintentional laughs.' The worst is Demi Moore's turn as Detective Tracy Atwood, said Rene Rodriguez in The Miami Herald. The faded star seems to be taking her cues from Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct 2. Moore is so awful, in such an awful role, 'œyou almost feel sorry for her.'

Rating: R

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